Somalia’s Takfiri al-Shabab terrorists have launched simultaneous attacks on police stations around the capital, Mogadishu, killing five people, including two kids.
Heavily-armed men stormed two police stations in the middle of the night, exchanging gunfire with security forces,” officials the on Wednesday.
“The terrorists attacked the suburbs of Mogadishu and targeted our police stations and checkpoints. Our security defeated the enemy,” internal security minister Abdullahi Nor wrote on Twitter early on Wednesday.
“Terrorists using a vehicle loaded with explosives attacked the police station in Kaxda district and inflicted casualties on the civilian population around the area,” said police spokesman Abdifatah Adan Hassan.
They also seized a police vehicle, he added, with officers set off in pursuit of them.
In a separate attack, militants targeted the Darussalam suburb on Mogadishu’s outskirts overnight, he said.
“Two young girls died in the incident while sixteen other civilians and three members of the security forces were wounded,” he added.
The terrorist group’s spokesman, Abdiasis Abu Musab, said fighters hit government targets in four districts in the capital and another area on the outskirts.
He said the militants overran government bases and seized military vehicles and weapons.
The al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabab terror group has been fighting Somalia’s central government for more than a decade.
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Despite being ousted from large parts of south and central Somalia, al-Shabab militants still retain a significant presence, reportedly roaming freely and posing a threat in regions outside the capital where the central government has little control.
The group launches regular attacks on government, military and civilian targets. It also aims to drive out African Union peacekeeping troops.
Meanwhile, the country is also beset by the growing threat of Daesh as the Takfiri terrorist group is seeking to find a new foothold after being vanquished from Iraq and much of Syria.
A France mission, known as Barkhane, began operating in Mali in 2013 to purportedly counter militants that Paris claims are linked to the al-Qaeda and Daesh terrorist groups.
Mali said late last year that it has evidence that France has been training terrorist groups operating in the West African country.
